The present invention relates to a cyclic accelerator for accelerating charge carriers and to a method for manufacturing the cyclic accelerator. Embodiments show an MEMS cyclotron functioning as a radiation source.
Various apparatuses necessitate high-energy radiation, either for analysis or ionization purposes. The simplest sources here are radioactive substances. Of disadvantage here is that they cannot be switched off, what makes practical and administrative handling thereof dramatically more difficult.
An electrical source of radiation which may be realized using the known methods of MEMS technology is outlined here. The easiest case of an x-ray source is an electron emitter combined with an acceleration distance; for example a Spindt emitter in combination with a high-voltage distance in a vacuum. Unfortunately, this simple concept is difficult to miniaturize for high energies due to possible flashovers and due to the high voltages applied to the apparatus in operation.
Acceleration distances which are passed cyclically can work with very much lower electrical potential differences and consequently can be miniaturized better. The best known approach for a long time is the cyclotron. A magnetic field applied vertically to the movement of electrons forces the electrons onto spiral trajectories; the electrons are accelerated by an alternating field of suitable frequency with each passing. This has been realized technically in large-scale units for nearly one hundred years.